Reading the Night World Series
by WritetoReading
Summary: Circle Daybreak -all the ones who have soulmates- are sent Night World volume 1 to read. Happens Before Strange Fate but after Witch Light. Please R&R!
1. Chapter 1

_**Chapter one**_

"Hay, guys!" Keller yelled. "Look what I found on the door step!" Everyone who had a soul mate was in the living room. They all looked up at Keller who looked excited holding a largish package.

"What?" Thierry asked. Keller handed him the already open box and pulled out a thick black book with a curly haired girl on the front who looked slightly like Poppy. "**The Night World Series**: **Secret Vampire, Daughters of Darkness, Spellbinder**."

"Er… what?" Asked a confused Quinn.

"Wait there's something on the back!" Mary-Lynnette said, grabbing the book from Thierry.

"_**Vampires, werewolves, witches, shapesifters- they live among us without our knowledge. Night World is their secret society, a secret society with very strict rules. And falling in love breaks all the laws of the Night World**_." Mary- Lynnette read off the back cover.

"Ah… you only break the laws if you fall in love with a human," Ash stated.

"So that makes you a criminal then, Ash?" Galen asked amused.

"Nope," Ash replied. Mary-Lynnette looked offended. "You can't break laws that are stupid and silly."

"Oh…" Muttered a blushing Mary-Lynnette. "There's some other stuff on the back but basically this book is about Poppy, James, Me, Ash, Thea, and Erick. But it's three books in one." __

"So, are we going to read it?" Hannah asked.

"Sure, but..." Thierry trailed off.

"But what?" Ash looked at him quizzically.

"There's a note," Thierry explained, pulling it out of the box.

"Well, read it." Said an extremely impatient Rachel.

"_Dear Circle Daybreak,_

_I sent these to you so that you may have a better understanding of each other. The events may have already happened, but the books are from the future. After you finish this one I will send the other books. It is currently one year after the apocalypse (in my time), but we are fighting amongst ourselves. By sending these books to you I hope you will come closer and be a more united people. I will be sending you notes periodically throughout this time. The time outside the mansion has stopped, so you won't need to fear attack. DO NOT fight each other it will only end badly._

_Lots of love,_

_M.R."_

"Who's M.R.?" Asked Gillian.

"No clue," Thierry replied. "Who want's to read first?"

"I will!" Shouted Poppy. Poppy grabbed the book and settled back against James waiting for everyone to sit down. "**Secret Vampire, Chapter One…**"

_**Please review! I will update soon! And for those how are reading my other story, I am putting that on hold and making this story my first priority! So any way please review!**_

_**-WritetoReading **_


	2. Chapter 2

_**Chapter One**_

"_I will!" Shouted Poppy. Poppy grabbed the book and settled back against James waiting for everyone to sit down. "__**Secret Vampire, Chapter One…**__"_

"**It was the first day of summer vacation when Poppy found out she was going to die**_."_

"Poppy you can't die!" Exclaimed Maggie.

"I didn't die," Poppy said.

"Well technically-" James started.

"James!" Poppy glared at her soul mate.

"Sorry."

"Whipped," someone coughed. James glared around the room and motioned for Poppy to continue.

"**It was on Monday the first real day of vacation (the weekend didn't count)."**

"Well duh," Gillian huffed.

"**Poppy woke up feeling gloriously weightless and thought, **_**No school. **_**Sunlight was streaming in the window, turning the sheer hangings around her bed filmy gold.**"

"Sounds pretty," sighed May-Lynnette. Poppy nodded in agreement before she started reading again.

"**Poppy pushed them aside and jumped out of bed- and winced.**"

"Poppy are you alright?" asked a concerned Galen. Poppy rolled her eyes.

"**Ouch**. **That pain in her stomach again.** **Sort of a gnawing, as if something were eating its way toward her back. It helped a little if she bent over. No, Poppy thought. I refuse to be sick during summer vacation.**"

"Being sick during summer vacation sucks!"Maggie shouted in agreement with the previously human Poppy.

"I don't mind," said Thea.

"I don't mind as long I can still stargaze," Mary-Lynnette stated.

"If we keep talking we will never get done!" Hannah berated them.

"_**I refuse**_**. A little power of positive thinking is what's needed here.**"

"Don't you mean popative thinking?" Morgead's lame joke was met by silence.

"**Grimly, doubled over-think positive, idiot- she made her way down the hall to the turquoise-and-gold-tiled bathroom. At first she thought she was going to throw up, ****but then the pain eased as suddenly as it had come. Poppy straightened** **and regarded her tousled reflection triumphantly."**

"Why would you regard it triumphantly?" Asked Jez.

"I donno? Because, I wasn't feeling icky anymore?" Poppy answered unsurely.

**"Stick with me, kid, and you'll be fine," she whispered to it, and gave a** **conspiratorial wink."**

"Talking to your self is the first sign of madness ," David commented while everyone else snickered.

"**Then she leaned forward, seeing her own green eyes narrow** **in suspicion. There on her nose were four freckles. Four and a half, if she were** **completely honest, which Poppy North usually was. **

"Oh goddess no! Not four and a half freckles!" Maggie shouted dramatically.

"**How childish, how-cute! Poppy** **stuck her tongue out at herself and then turned away with great dignity, without** **bothering to comb the wild coppery curls that clustered over her head."**

"Your hair looks sexy like that," James muttered to low for the others to hear and making her blush. (A/N can made vampires blush?)

"**She maintained the dignity until she got to the kitchen, where Phillip, her** **twin brother, was eating Special K." **

"Wow a guy eating Special K? How manly," Erik commented and all the 'manly' men in the room agreed, though Poppy was starting to feel a growing sense of dread for the thoughts that were coming up next.

" **Then she narrowed her eyes again, this time** **at him. It was bad enough to be small, slight, and curly-haired-to look, in** **fact, as much like an elf as anything she'd ever seen sitting on a buttercup in** **a children's picture book-" **

"A very cute children's picture book elf," teased James.

"I think you look more like a pixie," added Mare.

"**But to have a twin who was tall, Viking-blond, and** **classically handsome .. - well, that just showed a certain deliberate malice in** **the makeup of the universe, didn't it?"**

All the girls with brothers nodded their head.

**"Hello, Phillip," she said in a voice heavy with menace.** **Phillip, who was used to his sister's moods, was unimpressed. He lifted his** **gaze from the comic section of the L.A. Times for a moment. Poppy had to admit** **t****hat he had nice eyes: questing green eyes with very dark lashes. They were the** **only thing the twins had in common."**

"A good thing to I wouldn't want to have feelings for you and see you and your brother looking the same! It'd make me question my sexuality!" James laughed. As all the girls (but Keller and Jez-**A/N can't see them doing that**-) told Poppy she had very pretty eyes.

"**Hi," Phillip said flatly, and went back to the comics. Not many kids Poppy knew read** **the newspaper, but that was Phil all over."**

"Ugh, who reads the news paper?" Morgead asked disgustedly.

"I do," said -surprisingly -Ash.

" **Like Poppy, he'd been a junior at El** **Camino High last year, and unlike Poppy, he'd made straight A's while starring** **on the football team, the hockey team, and the baseball team. Also serving as** c**lass president."**

"Stuck-up know-it-all," grumbled Ash.

"Hay, I'm a know -it- all!" Mare said defensively.

"Yeah, but you're not stuck-up!" Mare smiled and gave Ash a kiss on the cheek.

"**One**** of Poppy's greatest joys in life was teasing him. She** **thought he was too straitlaced. Just now she giggled and shrugged, giving up the menacing look. **

**"Where's Cliff** **and Mom?" Cliff Hilgard was their stepfather of three years and even** **traighter-laced than Phil.**

**"Cliff's at work. Mom's getting dressed. You'd better eat something or she'll** **get on your case."**

**"Yeah, yeah ..." Poppy went on tiptoe to rummage through a cupboard. Finding a** **box of Frosted Flakes, she thrust a hand in and delicately pulled out one flake.** **She ate it dry."**

"The best way to eat it," David said knowledgably.

"**It wasn't all bad being short and elfin. She did a few dance steps to the** **refrigerator, shaking the cereal box in rhythm.**

**"I'm a ... sex pixie!" she sang, giving it a footstomping rhythm."**

"I'm sure James loves that!" Delos laughed with everyone else. He was still not up on the whole modern technology thing, but he did know what those words meant.

**"No, you're not," Phillip said with devastating calm. "And why don't you put** **some clothes on?"**

"Your brothers a stick-in-the-mud," Hannah said. "What?" Everyone was staring at her. Hannah wasn't a complete stick-in-the-mud but was stick-in the-mudish.

"**Holding the refrigerator door open, Poppy looked down at herself. She was** **wearing the oversize T-shirt she'd slept in. It covered her like a minidress."**

"That is clothes," said Mare and rolling her eyes with the rest of the room.

**"This is clothes," she said serenely, taking a Diet Coke from the** **fridge.**

Everyone laughed.

**There was a knock at the kitchen door. Poppy saw who it was through the screen.**

**"Hi, James! C'mon in."**

"Enter soulmate stage right," Quinn said as if giving stage directions.

**James Rasmussen came in, taking off his wraparound Ray-Bans. Looking at him,** **Poppy felt a pang-as always. **

"Ahh… The soulmate principle." Thierry sighed. But Poppy was just thinking how embarrassingly painful theses next couple Chapters where going to be.

"**It didn't matter that she had seen him every day,** **practically, for the past ten years. She still felt a quick sharp throb in her** **chest, somewhere between sweetness and pain, when first confronted with him** **every morning.**

**It wasn't just his outlaw good looks, which always reminded her vaguely of** **James Dean. He had silky light brown hair, a subtle, intelligent face, and gray** **eyes that were alternately intense and cool. He was the handsomest boy at El** **Camino High, but that wasn't it, that wasn't what Poppy responded to.**

**It was** **something inside him, something mysterious and compelling and always just out of** **reach. It made her heart beat fast and her skin tingle."**

"Poppy I hate to tell you this but… I'm a vampire," James in a mock serious voice. Poppy giggled and slapped him playfully on the arm.

"**Phillip felt differently. As soon as James came in, he stiffened and his face** **went cold. Electric dislike flashed between the two boys."**

"And the hate will grow stronger…" James muttered partially inaudible.

"What?" Asked Poppy.

"Nothing." Poppy didn't believe him, but continued reading anyway.

"**Then James smiled faintly, as if Phillip's reaction amused him. **

**"Hi."**

**"Hi," Phil said, not thawing in the least. Poppy had the strong sense that he'd** **like to bundle her up and rush her out of the room."**

"My brother was the opposite. He wanted to find me a boy friend! Not keep me away from them!" amre said with a slight tone a jealousy.

"**Phillip always overdid the** **protective-brother bit when James was around. "So how's Jacklyn and Michaela?"** **he added nastily.**

**James considered. "Well, I don't really know."**

**"You don't know? Oh, yeah, you always drop your girlfriends just before summer** **vacation. Leaves you free to maneuver, right?"**

**"Of course," James said blandly. He smiled.**

**Phillip glared at him with unabashed hatred.** **Poppy, for her part, was seized by joy. Goodbye, Jacklyn; goodbye Michaela.** **Goodbye to Jacklyn's elegant long legs and Michaela's amazing pneumatic chest."**

James tried and failed to hide his smile at Poppy's blush. Everyone else just laughed at Poppy's antics.

"**This was going to be a wonderful summer.** **Many people thought Poppy and James's relationship platonic. This wasn't true.** **Poppy had known for years that she was going to marry him. It was one of her two** g**reat ambitions, the other being to see the world. She just hadn't gotten aroundto in forming James yet."**

"That would have been nice," James said to Poppy while kissing her cheek.

"**Right now he still thought he liked long-legged girls** **with salon fingernails and Italian pumps."**

"I never cared for those," James murmured to Poppy who was beaming.

**"Is that a new CD?" she said, to distract him from his stare out with his** **future brother-in-law.**

More laughs rang across the room.

"**James hefted it. "It's the new Ethno techno release."**

**Poppy cheered. "More Tuva throat singers-I can't wait. Let's go listen to it."**

Poppy shrugged at the looks she was getting.

"**But just then her mother walked in. Poppy's mother was cool, blond,** **and perfect, like an Alfred Hitchcock heroine. She normally wore an expression of effortless efficiency. Poppy, heading out of the kitchen, nearly ran into** **her."**

**"Sorry-morning!"**

**"Hold on a minute," Poppy's mother said, getting hold of Poppy by the back of her T-shirt. "Good morning, Phil; good morning, James," she added. "**

"It seems she likes James," Rashle noted.

"Yep, she thought I was good influence on her," James laughed as Poppy stuck her young out at him.

"**Phil said good morning and James nodded, ironically polite."**

"How was it ironically polite?" James asked. Poppy just shrugged.

**"Has everybody had breakfast?" Poppy's mother asked, and when the boys said** **they had, she looked at her daughter. "And what about you?" she asked, gazing** **into Poppy's face."**

"Doesn't she trust you?" Mare questioned.

"She thinks I'm dead now," Poppy replied sadly. _That's what your family would think to if things hadn't happened the way they did, _thought Mare who was frowning. Ash knowing what she was thinking put an arm around her and held his M'lin close.

"**Poppy rattled the Frosted Flakes box and her mother winced. "Why don't you at** **least put milk on them?"**

**"Better this way," Poppy said firmly, but when her mother gave her a little** **push toward the refrigerator, she went and got a quart carton of low fat milk.**

"But Frosted Flakes are better that way," Maggie said questioning Poppy's mom's sanity.

**"What are you planning to do with your first day of freedom?" her mother said,** **glancing from James to Poppy.**

**"Oh, I don't know." Poppy looked at James. "Listen to some music; maybe go up** **to the hills? Or drive to the beach?"**

**"Whatever you want," James said. "We've got all summer."**

**The summer stretched out in front of Poppy, hot and golden and resplendent. It** **smelled like pool chlorine and sea salt; it felt like warm grass under her** **back. Three whole months, she thought. That's forever. Three months is forever.**

"Er… Not really and I'm speaking from personal experience," Quinn told Poppy slightly apologetic.

**It was strange that she was actually thinking this when it happened.**

"What happened?" Keller asked.

"If we read I'm sure will find out," Galen said gently.

**"We could check out the new shops at the Village -" she was beginning, when** **suddenly the pain struck and her breath caught in her throat.** **It was bad-a deep, twisting burst of agony that made her double over. The milk** **carton flew from her fingers and everything went gray."**

"That's it," Poppy said firmly. "Who wants to read next?"

"I will," Mare volunteered. Poppy handed the book to Mare, who snuggled into Ash and begain to read.

"**Chapter Two…**"

_**Please Review! I hope you liked it! I'll update soon! **_

_**-WritetoReading**_


	3. Chapter 3

**So… long time no see, beloved readers. Though perhaps at the moment you don't feel much loved. I have no excuses for not updating in almost two years. I'm horrible I know, I hope to appease you with more frequent updating and a super long chapter that includes some Mary-Lynette/Ash fluff. **

**I hope that you'll still continue reading my story, cuz I do love you guys. And if I forget to update feel free to PM me demanding an updated chapter. I really do love you guys so much. To emphasize my guilt at not updating I will be answering your reviews! Also, if I still don't update after you PM me pitch forks are not overkill. So to the answering the reviews! And did I mention that I'm sorry? Like really sorry? WELL I'M SOOOOOO SORRY! SORRY! SORRY! SORRY! I own NOTHING OF THE NIGHT WORLD!**

_**Midnight Vampire 333s:**_

Thank you! I try to be funny, you never know it is until it's on the net!

_**RQRGJM9311**_

I know I'm not the first, but thanks for the review!

_**nolesr1**_

Your welcome! I know and that bugs me so much too!

_**GallagherGirlMacey**_

Thanks! And I'm glad you had mentioned that. Otherwise I would keep using Rachel!

_**Night Worlder 13**_

Thank you! Thank you!

_**Obsessed-Wth-Vampires**_

Thank you this means so much! And I hate cliffys too!

_**CircleDaybreaker**_

I hope this meets your expectations! Thank you! And Daughters of Darkness is my fav to! I just love Mary-Lynette and Ash they are my fav couple!

_**InTheDarknessWithNoLight**_

Yes and thanks for the review!

_**Kimberkids**_

I am I still amazing after so long a wait? But even if I'm not thank you for the review! Thank you!

_**Ur Painted Lover**_

Thank you for the review!

_**vampirefan14**_

You'll find out! Thank you!

_**lira2308**_

I'll try to keep updating frequently! Thank you!

_**T**_

Thanks for the tip, but it's all cool!

_**woolley sheep**_

Thank you! And there's more to come for Poppy!

_**Alyona77**_

Thank you! I'll try I really w_**ill!**_

_**danielle-redfern**_

I hope there's more humor this time, but yet them still in character!

_**Lilypily**_

Thank you!

_**xXlamia vampressXx**_

It'll be awhile before I get to Chosen, but I will! Thank you!

_**Foodjunkii**_

Thank you and I'd love to look over your work, just PM me! I'm sure it's great! Mary-Lynette and Ash are my fav too! And it sucks that there isn't more Night World Fanfiction!

_**TheNumberOneNoffFan**_

_I'm a big fan of your work! I love it! I got the idea from the fact there weren't many Reading the Night World Novels on the net so I thought I'd do one! Thank you!_

_**Elizabeth Katherine Black**_

Thank you!

_**Smiley-Zombie-Studio**_

Giggle! I love that Line too!

_**deletedaccount2910**_

Thank you!

_**theVERYCONFUSEDgirl**_

Thank you!

_**auTumnlove77**_

Thank you!

_**dark queen of awesomeness**_

Thank you!

_**girlsforNaLu**_

Thank You! You're reviewing finally pushed me to update! Thank you!

**[~*~I'm~*~A~*~Sex~*~Pixi~*~Line~*~Break~*~! ~*~LOVE~*~ME~*~OR~*~DIE~*~! ~*~] **

"_That's it," Poppy said firmly. "Who wants to read next?"_

"_I will," Mare volunteered. Poppy handed the book to Mare, who snuggled into Ash and began to read. _

"**Chapter Two…**"

**"Poppy!" Poppy could hear her mother's voice, but she couldn't see anything. The kitchen floor was obscured by dancing black dots."**

"Could you guys not ask if I'm ok, cuz that will get really old really fast, "Poppy asked knowing she would bit someone after the fourth time they asked her.

"Okay, we won't…Right guys?" Thierry asked pointedly looking right at Mare, Maggie, Thea, and Hannah the most likely to ask if Poppy was okay.

**"Poppy, are you all right?" Now Poppy felt her mother's hands grasping her upper arms, holding her anxiously. The pain was easing and her vision was coming back."**

Jez was getting steadily annoyed with Morgead's constant twirling of a lock of her hair.

"Pay attention," hissed Jez slapping Morgead's hand away.

"I am," he whispered back, taking another lock of hair to twirl.

"Stop playing with my hair then!" Morgead smirked and whispered slowly ,"You know you like it when I play with your hair."

"No. I. Don't!" Jez yelled emphasizing each word with a punch to the gut. Morgead and Jez then held a glaring contest.

"If you two are done my M'lin would like to read," Glared Ash who gave a possessive squeeze to as he put it "his M'lin". They slowly leaned back and nodded.

"Thank you," Mare smiled feeling all fuzzy inside like a fluffy teddy bear from the "my M'lin" comment.

"**As she straightened up, she saw James in front of her. His face was almost expressionless, but Poppy knew him well enough to recognize the worry in his eyes."**

"Jamie's worried," teased Poppy.

"Always," James whispered.

**"He was holding the milk carton, she realized. He must have caught it on the fly as she dropped it-amazing reflexes, Poppy thought vaguely. Really amazing."**

"Way to give yourself away," Rashel snorted. "If _I_ was there you'd of been staked the minute you where away from Poppy's family."

Everyone was silent for a minute before James said," The sad thing is that I don't doubt you. "

"You shouldn't, cuz she nearly staked me and I'm her soulmate!" Quinn stated.

"You were gathering girls for a blood feast! How could I not almost stake you?" Rashel asked.

If there were any crickets even they would be silent.

"Moving on…"

**"Phillip was on his feet."Are you okay? What happened?"**

**"I-don't know." Poppy looked around, then shrugged, embarrassed. Now that she felt better she wished they weren't all staring at her so hard. The way to deal with the pain was to ignore it, to not think about it."**

"Ummmm…no that's not the way to deal with pain," commented Keller.

**"It's just this stupid pain-I think its gastrowhatchmacallit. You know something I ate."**

"Suuurrree…" James drawled. "It's totally gastrowhatchmacallit I get that all the time."

"Shut up," mumbled a blushing Poppy.

**"Poppy's mother gave her daughter the barest fraction of a shake."Poppy, this is not gastroenteritis. You were having some pain before-nearly a month ago, wasn't it? Is this the same kind of pain?"**

**Poppy squirmed uncomfortably. As a matter of fact, the pain had never really gone away. Somehow, in the excitement of end-of-the-year activities, she'd managed to disregard it, and by now she was used to working around it."**

"You really should've gotten it checked out, that could really be serious," Hannah said all mother like.

**"Sort of," she temporized. But that was enough for Poppy's mother.**

**"She gave Poppy a little squeeze and headed for the kitchen telephone."I know you don't like doctors, but I'm calling Dr. Franklin. I want him to take a look at you. This isn't something we can ignore."**

**"Oh, Mom, it's vacation..."**

**Her mother covered the mouthpiece of the phone. "Poppy, this is nonnegotiable. Go get dressed."**

"Yeah, sex pixie get dressed," teased James.

"Oh, James we all know you want Poppy undressed. You don't need to pretended otherwise," smirked Morgead. Everyone, but the aforementioned couple giggled.

**Poppy groaned, but she could see it was no use. She beckoned to James, who was looking thoughtfully into a middle distance."**

**"Let's at least listen to the CD before I have to go."**

**He glanced at the CD as if he'd forgotten it, and put down the milk carton. Phillip followed them into the hallway.**

**"Hey, buddy, you wait out here while she gets dressed."**

**James barely turned. "Get a life, Phil," he said almost absently.**

**"Just keep your hands off my sister, you deve."**

**"Poppy just shook her head as she went into her room. As if James cared about seeing her undressed."**

"Of course he does he's hot for yoooouu! And your hot for him , cuz it's summer and you get hot in the summer…like you wanna undress hot…cuz it's summer…cuz it's like hot in the summer…yeah…" Delos trailed of lamely.

"Honey, leave the innuendos to us. Mmkay?"

"Yes, Maggie."

**"If only, she thought grimly, pulling a pair of shorts out of a drawer. She stepped into them, still shaking her head. James was her best friend, her very best friend, and she was his. But he'd never shown even the slightest desire to get his hands on her. Sometimes she wondered if he realized she was a girl."**

"Yes, I know you're a girl. Never doubt that."

**"Someday I'm going to make him see, She thought, and shouted out the door for him.**

**James came in and smiled at her. It was a smile other people rarely saw, not a taunting or ironic grin, but a nice little smile, slightly crooked."**

**"Sorry about the doctor thing," Poppy said.**

**"No. You should go." James gave her a keen glance. "Your mom's right, you know. This has been going on way too long. You've lost weight; it's keeping you up at night-"**

**Poppy looked at him, startled. She hadn't told anybody about how the pain was worse at night, not even James. But sometimes James just knew things. As if he could read her mind.**

"Did you ever really read my mind?" asked Poppy

"Nooooooooooooooooooooooo…Mary-Lynette read!"

"Read what?"

"The book!"

"But what's the magic word?"

"Abracadabra? Gastrowhatchmacallit? Open sesame? No, no wait Open says me? What is the magic word!"

"Never mind…" Mare gave up trying to instill some manners into these unruly vampires.

**"I just know,-"**

"So the magic word is never mind? Well never mind read!"

"Poppy your soulmates an idiot," Mare commented idly.

"I know, but he's my idiot," Poppy sighed dreamily.

"Cheese alert!" Maggie cried. Cue giggles.

"May I continue?" Mare asked.

"Never mind read!" James smiled. Cue Mare's glare and somehow accurate vampire snarl.

**"I just know you, that's all," he said, and then gave her a mischievous sideways glance as she stared at him. He unwrapped the CD.**

**Poppy shrugged and flopped on her bed, staring at the ceiling. "Anyway, I wish Mom would let me have one day of vacation," she said. She craned her neck to look at James speculatively. "I wish I had a mom like yours. Mine's always worrying and trying to fix me."**

**"And mine doesn't really care if I come or go. So which is worse?" James said wryly.**

"At least you have a mom," grumbled Mare, Delos, Keller, and Rashel. **(A/N if I left someone out tell me please) **

**"Your parents let you have your own apartment."**

**"In a building they own. Because it's cheaper than hiring a manager." James shook his head, his eyes on the CD he was putting in the player. "Don't knock your parents, kid. You're luckier than you know."**

**Poppy thought about that as the CD started. She and James both liked trance-the underground electronic sound that had come from Europe. James liked the techno beat. Poppy loved it because it was real music, raw and unpasteurized, made by people who believed in it. People, who had the passion, not people who had the money.**

**Besides, world music made her feel a part of other places. She loved the differentness of it, the alienness. **

"Alienness isn't a word," said the ever grammatically correct Mary-Lynnette.

"Whatever Mary-Lynnette, you don't have to be such a school teacher," Poppy grumbled. Mare just rolled her eyes.

**Come to think of it, maybe that was what she liked about James, too. His differentness. She tilted her head to look at him as the strange rhythms of Burundi drumming filled the air.**

**She knew James better than anyone, but there was always something, something about him that was closed off to her. Something about him that nobody could reach.**

**Other people took it for arrogance, or coldness, or aloofness, but it wasn't really any of those things. It was just differentness. He was more different than any of the exchange students at school. Time after time, Poppy felt she had almost put her finger on the difference, but it always slipped away. And more than once, especially late at night when they were listening to music or watching the ocean, she'd felt he was about to tell her.**

**And she'd always felt that if he did tell her, it would be something important, something as shocking and lovely as having a stray cat speak to her.**

"Poppy I'm…Well I'm a vampire," James said quietly.

"Well James I'm a vampire too," Poppy responded deciding to play along.

"No! I never knew!" James shouted. "You've lied to me all these years? How could you?"

"James this went from playful to delusional in like two seconds flat."

"Well, ruin the fantasy."

"Didn't you guys do this last chapter?" Mare asked. They both shrugged not caring.

**Just now she looked at James, at his clean, carven profile and at the brown waves of hair on his forehead, and thought, He looks sad.**

**"Jamie, nothing's wrong, is it? I mean, at home, or anything?" She was the only person on the planet allowed to call him Jamie. Not even Jacklyn or Michaela had ever tried that.**

"Ash, don't even try!" shouted James.

"Okay…Jamie," leered Ash.

"Did you just leer?" Mare asked.

"Nooooo…"

**"What could be wrong at home?" he said, with a smile that didn't reach his eyes. Then he shook his head dismissively. "Don't worry about it, Poppy. It's nothing important-just a relative threatening to visit. An unwanted relative." **

"It's Ash isn't," Mare sighed. She knew Ash was go to do something bad.

"Yeah, it's me. Hey Mare, we should talk when the chapters over…" Ash scratched the back of his head. Mare closed her eyes and nodded. Keller felt bad for Mary-Lynette. How she could put up with Ash's past and still love him showed how much Mare really cared. Also how true love could stand through anything even a horrible past like Ash's… Oh, they're reading again.

**Then the smile did reach his eyes, glinting there. "Or maybe I'm just worried about you," he said.**

**Poppy started to say, "Oh, as if, "but instead she found herself saying, oddly, "Are you really?"**

**Her seriousness seemed to strike some chord. His smile disappeared, and Poppy found that they were simply looking at each other without any insulating humor between them. Just gazing into each other's eyes. James looked uncertain, almost vulnerable.**

Ash was too busy worrying about what to say to Mare and Morgead was once again playing with Jex's so…no degrading comment on James's "vulnerability".

**"Poppy"**

**Poppy swallowed. "Yes?"**

**He opened his mouth-and then he got up abruptly and went to adjust her 170-watt Tall-boy speakers.**

**When he turned back, his gray eyes were dark and fathomless.**

**"Sure, if you were really sick, I'd be worried," he said lightly. "That's what friends are for, right?"**

**Poppy deflated. "Right," she said wistfully, and then gave him a determined smile.**

**"But you're not sick," he said. "It's just something you need to get taken care of. The doctor'll probably give you some antibiotics or something-with a big needle," he added wickedly.**

**"Oh, shut up," Poppy said. He knew she was terrified of injections. Just the thought of a needle entering her skin..."**

"Guess no shooting up for you then Poppy," Quinn grinned. The simultaneous eye rolls coincided effortlessly with Rashel slapping Quinn's arm and Poppy's blush.

"What is this shooting up you speak of?" Delos asked Maggie confusedly. Maggie giggled and whispered into his ear.

"Oh…what's drugs?"

**"Here comes your mom," James said, glancing at the door, which was ajar. Poppy didn't see how he could hear anybody coming-the music was loud and the hallway was carpeted. But an instant later her mother pushed the door open.**

Rashel fingered her stake causing all the vampires to lean away warily with narrowed eyes.

**"All right, sweetheart," she said briskly. "Dr. Franklin says come right in. I'm sorry, James, but I'm going to have to take Poppy away."**

"No! Not my Poppy! YOU'LL NEVER TAKE HER!" James bellowed, tucking Poppy protectively to his side.

**"That's okay. I can come back this afternoon."**

"And I left her!" roared none other than James.

**Poppy knew when she was defeated. She allowed her mother to tow her to the garage, ignoring James's miming of someone receiving a large injection.**

"Jerk," mumbled Poppy.

**An hour later she was lying on Dr. Franklin's examining table, eyes politely averted as his gentle fingers probed her abdomen. Dr. Franklin was tall, lean, and graying, with the air of a country doctor. Somebody you could trust absolutely.**

"Really?" asked Gillian causing everyone to jump. They had forgotten about her and David and Glen and Thea.

"You guys should talk more," commented Thierry.

**"The pain is here?" he said.**

**"Yeah- but it sort of goes into my back. Or maybe I just pulled a muscle back there or something." The gentle, probing fingers moved, then stopped. Dr. Franklin's face changed. And somehow, in that moment, Poppy knew it wasn't a pulled muscle. It wasn't an upset stomach; it wasn't anything simple; and things were about to change forever.**

**All Dr. Franklin said was, "You know, I'd like to arrange for a test on this."**

**His voice was dry and thoughtful, but panic curled through Poppy anyway. She couldn't explain what was happening inside her-some sort of dreadful premonition, like a black pit opening in the ground in front of her.**

Wince.

**"Why?" her mother was asking the doctor.**

**"Well." Dr. Franklin smiled and pushed his glasses up. He tapped two fingers on the examining table." Just as part of a process of elimination, really. Poppy says she's been having pain in the upper abdomen, pain that radiates to her back, pain that's worse at night. She's lost her appetite recently, and she's lost weight.**

Wince. Wince.

**And her gallbladder is palpable-that means I can feel that it's enlarged. Now, those are symptoms of a lot of things, and a sonogram will help rule out some of them."**

Wince.

**Poppy calmed down. She couldn't remember what a gallbladder did but she was pretty sure she didn't need involving an organ with such a silly name couldn't be serious. **

**Dr. Franklin was going on, talking about the pancreas and pancreatitis and palpable livers, and Poppy's mother was nodding as if she understood. Poppy didn't understand, but the panic was gone. It was as if a cover had been whisked neatly over the black pit, leaving no sign that it had ever been there.**

**"You can get the sonogram done at Children's Hospital across the street," Dr. Franklin was saying.**

**"Come back here after it's finished."**

**Poppy's mother was nodding, calm, serious, and efficient. Like Phil. Or Cliff. Okay, we'll get this taken care of.**

**Poppy felt just slightly important. Nobody she knew had been to a hospital for tests.**

"That's not a good thing," Hannah grimaced.

**Her mother ruffled her hair as they walked out of Dr. Franklin's office. "Well, Poppet. What have you done to yourself now?"**

"Poppet really?" asked Morgead.

"Shut up."

**Poppy smiled impishly. She was fully recovered from her earlier worry. "Maybe I'll have to have an operation and I'll have an interesting scar," she said, to amuse her mother.**

Rashel grimaced," Scars aren't good things. They only show your mistakes never, your accomplishments…" Quinn pulled Rashel closer to him nuzzling into her neck.

**"Let's hope not," her mother said, unamused.**

**The Suzanne G. Monteforte Children's Hospital was a handsome gray building with sinuous curves and giant picture windows. Poppy looked thoughtfully into the gift shop as they passed. It was clearly a kid's gift shop, full of rainbow Slinkys and stuffed animals that a visiting adult could buy as a last-minute present.**

"Those jerks, their child is sick! The least they could do is buy a meaningful gift!" Thea huffed to general agreement.

**A girl came out of the shop. She was a little older than Poppy, maybe seventeen or eighteen. She was pretty, with an expertly made-up face-and a cute bandanna which didn't quite conceal the fact that she had no hair.**

**She looked happy, round-cheeked, with earrings dangling jauntily beneath the bandanna-but Poppy felt a stab of sympathy.**

"At least she's happy," Gillian commented softly.

**Sympathy...and fear. That girl was really sick. Which was what hospitals were for, of course-for really sick people. Suddenly Poppy wanted to get her own tests over with and get out of here.**

**The sonogram wasn't painful, but it was vaguely disturbing. A technician smeared some kind of jelly over Poppy's middle, then ran a cold scanner over it, shooting sound waves into her, taking pictures of her insides. **

"Ewwww…"said the slightly OC Mare.

**Poppy found her mind returning to the pretty girl with no hair.**

**To distract herself, she thought about James. **

"Awww…" the girls cooed.

**And for some reason what came to mind was the first time she'd seen James, the day he came to kindergarten. He'd been a pale, slight boy with big gray eyes and something subtly weird about him that made the bigger boys start picking on him immediately. On the playground they ganged up on him like hounds around a fox-until Poppy saw what was happening.**

"Poppet to the rescue!"Ash ribbed, but Mare could tell that he was nervous about the talk after the chapter.

**Even at five she'd had a great right hook.**

"As any five year old should," said Keller seriously.

**She'd burst into the group, slapping faces and kicking shins-**

"Just like you M'lin," Ash teased kissing Mare's forehead.

"Careful there, you never know when I might strike!" Mare joked back.

**until the big boys went running. Then she'd turned to James.**

"Her soul mate!" Morgead mock swooned.

**"Wanna be friends?"**

"No he wants to be more the friends," Hannah giggled.

**After a brief hesitation he'd nodded shyly. There had been something oddly sweet in his smile. But Poppy had soon found that her new friend was strange in small ways. When the class lizard died, he'd picked up the corpse without revulsion and asked Poppy if she wanted to hold it. The teacher had been horrified.**

"I would be too," Mare interrupted herself.

**He knew where to find dead animals, too-he'd shown her a vacant lot where several rabbit carcasses lay in the tall brown grass. He was matter-of-fact about it.**

**When he got older, the big kids stopped picking on him. He grew up to be as tall as any of them, and surprisingly strong and quick-and he developed a reputation for being tough and dangerous. When he got angry, something almost frightening shone in his gray eyes.**

**He never got angry with Poppy, though. They'd remained best friends all these years. When they'd reached junior high, he'd started having girlfriends all the girls at school wanted him but he never kept any of them long. And he never confided in them; to them he was a mysterious, secretive bad boy. Only Poppy saw the other side of him, the vulnerable, caring side.**

"My favorite side," Poppy murmured into James's ear.

**"Okay," the technician said, bringing Poppy back to the present with a jerk. "You're done; let's wipe this jelly off you."**

Morgead tried really hard not to comment on the way that line could be taken sexually. He was very proud of himself when he didn't.

**"So what did it show?" Poppy asked, glancing up at the monitor.**

"That you're pregnant," Thea smiled. Poppy glared, before looking thoughtful. She turned to Thierry and asked," Can made vampire's reproduce?"

Thierry pondered this before shrugging and saying, "I don't know."_**(A/N does anyone know this? Can made vampires reproduce?)**_

**"Oh, your own doctor will tell you that. The radiologist will read the results and call them over to your doctor's office." The technician's voice was absolutely neutral-so neutral that Poppy looked at her sharply. Back in Dr. Franklin's office, Poppy fidgeted while her mother paged through out-of-date magazines.**

**When the nurse said "Mrs. Hilgard," they both stood up.**

"I think she meant your mom," James said. Poppy just smiled sadly at the thought of her mom.

**"Uh-no," the nurse said, looking flustered. ", the doctor just wants to see you for a minute-alone."**

**Poppy and her mother looked at each other. Then, slowly, Poppy's mother put down her People magazine and followed the nurse.**

**Poppy stared after her.**

Another spot that Morgead could comment, but the look of kicked-puppy-ness on Poppy's face stopped him. At the moment Morgead was so proud that he hasn't made a sexual comment in a while.

"Why are you smiling," whispered Jez suspiciously.

"Nothing." Jez leaned back but kept her eyes on him; which was just fine with him.

**Now, what on earth . . . Dr. Franklin had never done that before.**

**Poppy realized that her heart was beating hard. Not fast, just hard. Bang...bang... bang, in the middle of her chest, shaking her insides. Making her feel unreal and giddy.**

"Like a ghost," frowned David. Gillian squeezed his hand comfortingly.

**Don't think about it. It's probably nothing. Read a magazine.**

"That's not gonna work," Keller grimaced. "Trust me."

**But her fingers didn't seem to work properly. When she finally got the magazine open, her eyes ran over the words without delivering them to her brain.**

**What are they talking about in there? What's going on? It's been so long...**

**It kept getting longer. As Poppy waited, she found herself vacillating between two modes of thought. 1) Nothing serious was wrong with her and her mother was going to come out and laugh at her for even imagining there was, and 2) Something awful was wrong with her and she was going to have to go through some dreadful treatment to get well. **

Wince and frown.

**The covered pit and the open pit. When the pit was covered, it seemed laughable, and she felt embarrassed for having such melodramatic thoughts. But when it was open, she felt as if all her life before this had been a dream, and now she was hitting hard reality at last.**

**I wish I could call James, she thought.**

"I wish you could have told me too," James whispered.

**At last the nurse said, "Poppy? Come on in."**

**Dr. Franklin's office was wood-paneled, with certificates and diplomas hanging on the walls. Poppy sat down in a leather chair and tried not to be too obvious about scanning her mother's face.**

"Oh, you poor thing!" Hannahfussed.

**Her mother looked...too calm. Calm with strain underneath. She was smiling, but it was an odd, slightly unsteady smile.**

**Oh, God, Poppy thought. Something is going on.**

The tension increased tenfold and everyone leaned in wanting to hear what was going to happen. _Wow_, Poppy thought, _they are really getting into the book. Which has all ready happened_.

**"Now, there's no cause for alarm," the doctor said, **

"Never say that then people just become alarmed," Mare said wisely.

**and immediately Poppy became more alarmed.**

"My point exactly," Mare smirked smugly. No one bothered to point out that no one had disagreed.

**Her palms stuck to the leather of the chair arms.**

**"Something showed up in your sonogram that's a little unusual, and I'd like to do a couple of other tests," Dr. Franklin said, his voice slow and measured, soothing. "One of the tests requires that you fast from midnight the day before you take it. But your mom says you didn't eat breakfast today."**

**Poppy said mechanically, "I ate one Frosted Flake."**

If the atmosphere wasn't so tense they would have giggled.

**"One Frosted Flake? Well, I think we can count that as fasting. We'll do the tests today, and I think it's best to admit you to the hospital for them. Now, the tests are called a CAT scan and an ERCP-that's short for something even I can't pronounce." He smiled. Poppy just stared at him.**

**"There's nothing frightening about either of these tests," he said gently. "The CAT scan is like an X ray. The ERCP involves passing a tube down the throat, through the stomach, and into the pancreas. Then we inject into the tube a liquid that will show up on X rays."**

Wince-ity. Wince. Wince.

**His mouth kept moving, but Poppy had stopped hearing the words. She was more frightened than she could remember being in a long time.**

**I was just joking about the interesting scar, she thought. I don't want a real disease. I don't want to go to the hospital, and I don't want any tubes down my throat.**

Keller smiled sympathetically; she has after all been in the hospital a few times.

**She looked at her mother in mute appeal. Her mother took her hand.**

**"It's no big deal, sweetheart. We'll just go home and pack a few things for you; then we'll come back."**

**"I have to go into the hospital today?"**

**"I think that would be best," Dr. Franklin said.**

**Poppy's hand tightened on her mother's. Her mind was a humming blank.**

**When they left the office, her mother said, "Thank you, Owen." Poppy had never heard her call Dr. Franklin by his first name before.**

**Poppy didn't ask why. She didn't say anything as they walked out of the building and got in the car. As they drove home, her mother began to chat about ordinary things in a light, calm voice, and Poppy made herself answer. Pretending that everything was normal, while all the time the terrible sick feeling raged inside her.**

"Awwwwohhhhh," the all ways matronly Hannah fretted.

**It was only when they were in her bedroom, packing mystery books and cotton pajamas into a small suitcase, that she asked almost casually, "So what exactly does he think is wrong with me?"**

**Her mother didn't answer immediately. She was looking down at the suitcase. Finally she said, "Well, he's not sure anything is wrong."**

Wince.

**"But what does he think? He must think something. And he was talking about my pancreas-I mean, it sounds like he thinks there's something wrong with my pancreas. I thought he was looking at my gallbladder or whatever. I didn't even know that my pancreas was involved in this..."**

"Poppy now's not a time to be hyst-Oh never mind now's a perfect time to hysterical," Rashel corrected herself. Poppy just rolled her eyes; she felt like she's been doing that a lot lately.

**"Sweetheart." Her mother took her by the shoulders, and Poppy realized she was getting a little over wrought. She took a deep breath.**

"Always a good idea," Glen said idly, trying not to get to wrapped up in book.

**"I just want to know the truth, okay? I just want to have some idea of what's going on. It's my body, and I've got a right to know what they're looking for-don't I?"**

**It was a brave speech, and she didn't mean any of it. What she really wanted was reassurance, a promise that Dr. Franklin was looking for something trivial. That the worst that could happen wouldn't be so bad. She didn't get it.**

Hannah was about to go smother Poppy before remembering that this was in the past. Also, it seemed James had Poppy wrapped up in his arms protectively enough for the both of them.

**"Yes, you do have a right to know." Her mother let a long breath out, then spoke slowly. "Poppy, Dr. Franklin was concerned about your pancreas all along. Apparently things can happen in the pancreas that cause changes in other organs, like the gallbladder and liver. When Dr. Franklin felt those changes, he decided to check things out with a sonogram."**

**Poppy swallowed. "And he said the sonogram was-unusual. How unusual?"**

Everyone that was so enamored with the book waited with baited breath.

"….."

"M'lin you need to breath to read, "Ash reminded Mare gently.

"Oh, yeah, sorry!" Mare blushed.

**"Poppy, this is all preliminary..." Her mother saw her face and sighed. She went on reluctantly." The sonogram showed that there might be something in your pancreas. Something that shouldn't be there. That's why Dr. Franklin wants the other tests; they'll tell us for sure. But-"**

Dramatic lean in.

**"Something that shouldn't be there? You mean ... like a tumor? Like ...cancer?" Strange, it was hard to say the words.**

"….." Mare looked at Poppy before reading the last line.

**Her mother nodded once. "Yes. Like cancer."**

"That's it who will read next?" Mare sighed, watching while everyone relaxed back into their seat.

"I will," Ash volunteered. "But first Mare can we talk?" Mare looked around at the others before sighing and walking out with Ash.

**[~*~I'm~*~A~*~Pretty~*~Little~*~Line~*~Break~*~! ~*~LOVE~*~ME~*~OR~*~DIE~*~! ~*~] **

Ash walked with Mare to the terrace; closing the French doors to get a little privacy from the others. Mare leaned against the marble railing, waiting for Ash to speak. Moving next to his M'lin muttered, "Please don't be mad at what I do in this book."

"Ash, why would I be mad?" Mare gazed at the stars. The Los Vegas tended to run on nocturnal day instead of a human day. That made her happy though, more time to stare at the stars. Plus, Ash seemed more alive and happy at night then during the day. That was always good she liked it when Ash was happy, but Ash seemed to be happy when she was happy. _Though that's not necessarily bad_… Mary-Lynette mused.

"Well, I was a…well lack for better word ass. I'm sure you'll find out, but before you do I want you to know that Poppy and I have worked through it. SO don't be angry I don't want to be without you again. It was hard enough the first time I…I don't think I could do it again," Ash turned M'lin towards him looking her in the eyes.

"Ash, it's ok. I love you and I know that you and Poppy made up. She told me herself when we first met. I don't know what happened, but I know you two are ok. Honey, you're making too big of deal of this. Ok?"

"Ok," Ash offered a small smile and kissed his M'lin softly on the lips. It was sweet and simple and filled with love. Mare pulled back, hugged her soulmate before leading him back inside. Everyone pretended that they hadn't been attempting to read the couples lips.

"So," Quinn smiled. "Ready to read Ash?"

"Yup," Ash beamed grabbing the book and flipping to the right page. "All right…"

"**Chapter Three…"**


End file.
